An unconventional look at homelessness

Nov. 17, 2004

KALAMAZOO--A new book by an associate professor of anthropology
at Western Michigan University is shattering stereotypes about
homelessness in the United States and shedding light on dysfunctions
within the nation's homeless sheltering industry.

"Inequality, Poverty and Neoliberal Governance: Activist
Ethnography in the Homeless Sheltering Industry" by Dr.
Vincent Lyon-Callo combines political-economic analysis with
the rich detail of ethnographic study to offer a rare view of
homelessness and inequality.

"My research looks at the well-meaning practices whereby
those in the homeless sheltering industry try to resolve homelessness,"
Lyon-Callo says. "What I found is that even the best practices
are limited when attention is focused on market-based and individualized
practices of reform and governance."

Lyon-Callo, who joined WMU's faculty in 1998, has a bachelor's
degree in economics, a master's degree in labor studies and a
doctoral degree in cultural anthropology. He did five years of
ethnographic fieldwork while assistant director of a Northampton,
Mass., homeless shelter and also was a counselor and manager
of a Connecticut shelter for three years.

In his book, Lyon-Callo contends that America is increasingly
dealing with homelessness by applying principles of "neoliberalism,"
which he argues has created great wealth for some but poverty
and homelessness for others.

"Neoliberalism is often promoted as more efficient government
to help individuals and countries compete better," he says.
"It's both a return to classic liberalism's embracing of
the private, "free" market as the solution to social
problems and an embracing of the role of government to promote
individualized competition and market-based policies.

"Privatization and deregulation in the name of efficiency
and productivity have become the norm. Punishment and imprisonment
have replaced many social programs, and those that remain,...have
a renewed focus on reforming individuals to better compete in
the 'free market."

As a result, Lyon-Callo says, it has become easier to incorrectly
view homeless people as deviants and to accept vast social inequality
and widespread homelessness.

"Many people care about homelessness," he continues.
"But is has become 'common sense' for that caring to take
the form of charity or services aimed at reforming homeless people
and for shelters to focus on helping homeless people cope with
inequality."

However, Lyon-Callo says homelessness is rooted in an economic
system that depends on low-wage jobs, declining housing affordability
and the dismantling of the social safety net. He says not challenging
this economic system helps explain why homelessness remained
pervasive during the past decade, even though the economy was
supposedly booming and hundreds of millions of dollars were being
pumped into the homeless sheltering industry.

"It seems that the goal is no longer to make society
well through developing collective resistance strategies against
social injustice," Lyon-Callo concludes in his book, "but
rather to normalize the homelessness of individual people."

Chapters in the book include "The Political-Economic
Context," "Medicalizing Homelessness," "Shelter
Statistics and the Silencing of Systemic Concerns," "The
Non-Compliant Homeless: Ariel's Story," "Defining the
Role of the Sheltering Industry," "Helping Homeless
Youth," and "Managing Homelessness."

The 191-page paperback was published in 2004 by Broadview
Press and sells for $22.95. It is available through Kalamazoo-area
retailers, including the WMU Bookstore, as well as online through
Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. For more information, visit
the Web site at <www.broadviewpress.com>.